Terry-

What we do is to look at each section as we pick it up off the waterbath
under a microscope.  By adjusting the aperture after focusing the condenser,
it is possible to see a great deal of detail about section content and
quality, including a great many atefacts.

I don't know for sure that this is what you were looking for, but it works
well for us.

Joseph A. Saby, BA HT
Diagnostic Pathology, Pathology & Experimental Toxicology
Parke-Davis/Int. Pharm. Res. Div. Warner-Lambert
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Phone: (734) 622-3631
Fax:     (734) 622-5718
e-mail:  Joseph.Saby@wl.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Hacker [mailto:T.Hacker@har.mrc.ac.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 8:07 AM
To: 'Histonet'
Subject: Muscle


I have posed this question before and someone kindly gave me a 
contact which I have since lost.
I am processing a number of fixed(formol saline) mouse muscles to  
paraffin wax to look for potential myopathies. The trouble is that 
there is a certain amount of artefact (fibre splitting,chattering 
etc.) which is making it difficult to assess any true pathology and 
because of the numbers I need a quick easy method as an initial look 
before progressing to frozens/enzymes etc.
Any tips/ideas would be gratefully received.

Terry.

Terry Hacker,
Medical Research Council,
Harwell,
Oxfordshire,
U.K.